In the South Atlantic region an Information Management System and GIS data centre (IMS-GIS data centre) has been operating since the end of 2013 thanks to an initial funding from the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) to the Falkland Islands Government and Saint Helena Government was facilitated by Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) as a project partner. The South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) has been taking the task to build, develop, implement and ultimately manage the IMS-GIS data centre in the Falklands and in the regional area of the South Atlantic (with the exception of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands whose data management falls under the responsibility of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)).

Three territories: Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and the Falkland Islands have been adopting the ISO19115 metadata form for collecting metadata and have organised a local server for storing data. The original ISO19115 has been further simplified to make it easy to use for individuals and organisations that are requested to fill it in. The metadata template created and used by the IMS-GIS data centre is available online at http://www.south-atlantic-research.org/metadata-catalogue

Both Ascension Island and the Falklands have consolidated data management practices into data policies adopted locally. Other territories such as Saint Helena and South Georgia provide researchers interested in working in these territories with guidelines and research permit applications. For clarity, the IMS-GIS data centre pulled together all the information in this webpage, which researchers are strongly invited to look at:

From 2016 the introduction of standard metadata (ISO19115) and the submission to a data centre became necessary components of DPLUS projects. DPLUS projects are also now required to comply with territory research permits. The JNCC has received the mandate from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to run a data archive/repository targeting only the collection of metadata and data from DPLUS projects run in the UKOTs.

In order to avoid confusion between the role of the local data centres and the JNCC/DEFRA Darwin Plus data and metadata repository, the IMS-GIS data centre has thought it opportune to clarify its position and specify its role and responsibility in the management of data and metadata generated from a DPLUS project.

Below a simple data management schema for DPLUS PM’s operating in the Falkland Islands to ensure that the PM complies with the Data Management Policy adopted in the Falkland Islands and with the requirements of the Falkland Islands Research permits (see link above). For DPLUS PM’s working in the other South Atlantic territories it is highly recommended that they liaise with:

the Director of Conservation and Fisheries department (Ascension Island Government);

the Director of Environment and Fisheries (Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands);